Morning Links: Gulf Labor Edition

Negar Azimi on the sticky relationship between new museums and workers’ rights in the United Arab Emirates. Two major players: the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Gulf Labor, a collective that’s protested the museum’s labor practices. [The New Yorker]

The United States Senate has passed a bill that protects art on loan to America from seizure. Among other things, the bill eases relationships with Russian institutions, which stopped loaning works to U.S. institutions in 2010. [The Art Newspaper]

Joyce Carol Oates wants to know if Donald J. Trump is the Jeff Koons of politics, or if it’s the other way around. [Twitter]

The Talent

Artist Hank Willis Thomas has joined the board of the Public Art Fund. Meanwhile, Kellie Honeycutt, currently the institution’s communications director, will be director of institutional advancement, starting on January 1. [Artforum]

The Critics

Peter Schjeldahl reviews Pace gallery’s “Rothko: Dark Palette” show, which he writes “will remind you what it’s like to encounter a fully original, naked personality in art.” [The New Yorker]